LOS ANGELES — Elin Nordegren has reportedly hired heavyweight attorney Sorrell Trope to represent her in divorce proceedings against Tiger Woods.
Several Los Angeles stations began reporting the hiring on Thursday. Trope has a long history around Hollywood, having represented the likes of Cary Grant, Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Hugh Grant and Britney Spears. He is also in the middle of representing Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.
Trope, 82, has been described as a hard-nosed negotiator willing to go to extremes for anyone who can afford his high-priced services.
“There is just one Sorrell Trope,” Manhattan-based divorce attorney Robert Wallack tells the New York Daily News.
“He’s in a class of maybe 12 or 15 lawyers that handles very high-asset, high-income divorces with contentious custody cases,” added Beverly Hills family law arbitrator Alexandra Leichter.
On Tuesday, moving trucks arrived at the couple’s Windermere, Fla. mansion, with Nordegren (sans her wedding ring) offering directions to workers as they removed items from the home.
“She’s made up her mind,” an insider told People of Nordegren’s plans to divorce Woods. “There’s nothing to think about: he’s never going to change.”
Another source told the Daily News that the 29-year-old model is planning to return to her native Sweden for the holidays with the couple’s kids (Sam, 2, and Charlie, 10 months), but it remains to be seen if that will be a permanent stay.
Woods, 33, has been under the microscope ever since a single-car accident outside the couple’s home on Nov. 27. The accident came shortly after the National Enquirer published a story alleging that the PGA star was having an affair with Rachel Uchitel, a New York nightclub manager.
Since the first affair allegation, several more women have stepped forward claiming to have engaged in sexual trysts with Woods, including former VH1 Tool Academy contestant Jaimee Grubbs and porn star Holly Sampson.
Last Friday, Woods admitted to cheating on his wife for the first time, while also announcing plans to put his golf career on an “indefinite” hold in order to focus on his family.
“I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children,” he said in a statement on his official Web site. “I want to say again to everyone that I am profoundly sorry and that I ask forgiveness. It may not be possible to repair the damage I’ve done, but I want to do my best to try.”
However, according to Us Weekly, Woods and Uchitel have remained in contact throughout the embattled’s golfer affair scandal.
“They are not over,” a source told the mag. “She said Tiger was texting her, trying to find time to get together again. He wasn’t even fazed.”
Woods and Nordegren have been married since 2004.
